Guess who's coming back to the Pats this season? (Maybe)

[RIpats88]

well, we never really had stories that valentine was going to be evaluated. But we will see what happens. Bill has never made moves out of "panic" or "need" The move will be made on who is healthier and who is the better player.

IMO Mitchell is the better player to help. As we can see with dorsett finding a receiver who can contribute in this offense is much harder than finding a rotation DT. RJF and Butler have fit in well.

Right now Hogan doesnt appear close to returning and Dorsett is giving us nothing. We are relying on Danny amendola who has abit of injury history himself to play a bigger role. pats are already playing much more 3 TE and 2 RB sets to make up for the lack of depth at the receiver position.

It would be nice to have a posession receiver whom brady trusts to plug in. and Hopefully once hogan comes back split time with amendola/dorsett

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

well, we never really had stories that valentine was going to be evaluated. But we will see what happens. Bill has never made moves out of "panic" or "need" The move will be made on who is healthier and who is the better player.

IMO Mitchell is the better player to help. As we can see with dorsett finding a receiver who can contribute in this offense is much harder than finding a rotation DT. RJF and Butler have fit in well.

Right now Hogan doesnt appear close to returning and Dorsett is giving us nothing. We are relying on Danny amendola who has abit of injury history himself to play a bigger role. pats are already playing much more 3 TE and 2 RB sets to make up for the lack of depth at the receiver position.

It would be nice to have a posession receiver whom brady trusts to plug in. and Hopefully once hogan comes back split time with amendola/dorsett

I will be surprised if hogan's not back for that game in Miami. The injury was more serious than we thought if he's not back for that game. I want him back before the squealers game.

 

[Ring 6]

well, we never really had stories that valentine was going to be evaluated. But we will see what happens. Bill has never made moves out of "panic" or "need" The move will be made on who is healthier and who is the better player.

IMO Mitchell is the better player to help. As we can see with dorsett finding a receiver who can contribute in this offense is much harder than finding a rotation DT. RJF and Butler have fit in well.

Right now Hogan doesnt appear close to returning and Dorsett is giving us nothing. We are relying on Danny amendola who has abit of injury history himself to play a bigger role. pats are already playing much more 3 TE and 2 RB sets to make up for the lack of depth at the receiver position.

It would be nice to have a posession receiver whom brady trusts to plug in. and Hopefully once hogan comes back split time with amendola/dorsett

Dorsett has been better than rjf and butler, as well as needed less. Trenches matter more than skill positions despite fans forgetting trenches exist.

 

[maineman209]

I will be surprised if hogan's not back for that game in Miami. The injury was more serious than we thought if he's not back for that game. I want him back before the squealers game.

Well, the "remote diagnoses" (FWIW, lol) by Doc Flynn and the other one were 4-6 weeks for Hogan to recover. Counting the BYE, Hogan has been OUT for four weeks ow.

 

[Soliel]

Defenses seem out of sorts as it is. Imagine having cooks to deal with, Hogan, Mitchell and Edelman. If I were an opposing defense coordinator, I’d be on Xanax in a hurry. I know Edelman can’t play at all this year but damn I wish he could. These games would be a wrap.

 

[supafly]

Well, the "remote diagnoses" (FWIW, lol) by Doc Flynn and the other one were 4-6 weeks for Hogan to recover. Counting the BYE, Hogan has been OUT for four weeks ow.

Dr.Chao is the other physician. He’s got a decent track record, at least in my opinion. At the very least, it’s certainly worth taking his stance into consideration.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

Defenses seem out of sorts as it is. Imagine having cooks to deal with, Hogan, Mitchell and Edelman. If I were an opposing defense coordinator, I’d be on Xanax in a hurry. I know Edelman can’t play at all this year but damn I wish he could. These games would be a wrap.

While true -- and believe me I wish we had Jules back -- what's that saying about necessity being the mother of invention? Currently Brady-Cooks is the most productive deep (20 yards in the air or more) pass tandem in the league. That may not have been established if Jules were playing.
Obviously this is bordering on the absurd for positive spin on the loss of Jules. But this deep route production is potentially mega-huge when added with Jules (assumingly next year). Add in productive TE(s), excellent backfield receivers (White, Lewis) -- hard to imagine how potent this offense could have been this year if Jules had returned (say beginning of December) right after the deep game was established/perfected. It would have meant any game the OL gave Brady protection would almost certainly result in the Patriots viciously carving up opponents from the air. Maybe not 07 potent but incredibly potent nonetheless.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

Well, the "remote diagnoses" (FWIW, lol) by Doc Flynn and the other one were 4-6 weeks for Hogan to recover. Counting the BYE, Hogan has been OUT for four weeks ow.

It would be nice if he returns for the next Phins/the game before Pitt. If the 4-6 weeks holds true then fair chance we see Hogan as a 'limited participation' for next week's practice.

Side note for today's active list: with Bennett out who gets that active spot? Seems chances are decent Malcolm Brown will be active but I'm assuming the new guy (Lee?) won't be active and I also assume Brown active = Francois inactive(?).
With a 1:1 shuffle on D then is the open spot mean the return for Gill? Safe to assume if Gill is inactive again then BB/JM have decided this is gameplan SOP, and Lewis-Burk-White (Bolden as the emergency back) are 'what's for dinner' in the running game (and Gill is now the frozen TV dinner only to be used when the fridge is a bit empty)?

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

Bill has never made moves out of "panic" or "need" The move will be made on who is healthier and who is the better player.

Doesn't Shane M, possibly, fall into the action based on "need" category? Seems odd they had all this time evaluate but whiffed so badly on his ability to play in 2017.

We aren't functionally thin at WR and we aren't functionally waif in the interior DL. But one could argue LB is functionally thin as paper. So maybe Shane M was a bit of 'wing and a prayer' usage for 1 of the 2 IR recall spots. It sure would have been nice to activate both VV (I assume Francois would have been cut) and MM (??? is cut).

 

[maineman209]

Dr.Chao is the other physician. He’s got a decent track record, at least in my opinion. At the very least, it’s certainly worth taking his stance into consideration.

Thank you. I brain-cramped on the name.

Actually, I do give both Flynn's and Chao's opinions significant consideration, mainly because they consistently provide caveats about the limits of diagnoses/prognoses made without direct access/examination. They're much more careful than most about not stating their opinions as fact. Instead, they offer a range of possibilities and explanations of their reasoning. I definitely respect that.

The bit about "remote diagnosis" is me acknowledging the limits that they readily do, and avoiding re-stating a media opinion as gospel.

 

[maineman209]

Doesn't Shane M, possibly, fall into the action based on "need" category? Seems odd they had all this time evaluate but whiffed so badly on his ability to play in 2017.

We aren't functionally thin at WR and we aren't functionally waif in the interior DL. But one could argue LB is functionally thin as paper. So maybe Shane M was a bit of 'wing and a prayer' usage for 1 of the 2 IR recall spots. It sure would have been nice to activate both VV (I assume Francois would have been cut) and MM (??? is cut).

IDK. I viewed the attempt to bring McClellin back as maybe an acknowledgement that, while interior DL play was not where they wanted it to be, edge defense was the bigger weakness, and that LB depth is shallow (although both M. Flowers and Reilly have begun to step up fairly well).

Without knowing for certain what injury McClellin was recovering from (media rumor falling somewhat short of the standard of "fact"), it's really not possible to know that the Pats evaluation of his ability to play was incorrect or not.

It seems reasonable to think that McClellin's rehab from the injury (injuries) that put him on IR had gone well enough to activate him for practice. And we know that he practiced for 2+ weeks and then suffered and injury that prevented him from returning. Without knowing for certain what the original injury was, how do we know that this "setback" was a re-injury, or a completely different injury?

Brown's first game missed with is ankle injury was week-8, and RJF was signed during the BYE (wk-9), presumably to cover for Brown, and filled HT's roster spot.

RJF made one tackle in 11 snaps in his "debut" at DEN (wk-10) and another v. OAK last week (a TFL), while playing 25 snaps (Branch played 27 snaps), so it seems reasonable to assume that his performance as a rotational guy has been satisfactory so far to MP, perhaps enough to make VV's return unnecessary.

OTOH, while Brady does appear to have quite a few passing targets on paper, Gronk, Amendola, White and Lewis are the only currently healthy ones he's worked with prior to this season. He's obviously worked with Bennett before, too - and it showed immediately - but Bennett's continued health is literally "questionable" at the moment. So, it seems to me that MM's return may add more to the offense than VV's return would for the defense.

 

[maineman209]

It would be nice if he returns for the next Phins/the game before Pitt. If the 4-6 weeks holds true then fair chance we see Hogan as a 'limited participation' for next week's practice.

Side note for today's active list: with Bennett out who gets that active spot? Seems chances are decent Malcolm Brown will be active but I'm assuming the new guy (Lee?) won't be active and I also assume Brown active = Francois inactive(?).
With a 1:1 shuffle on D then is the open spot mean the return for Gill? Safe to assume if Gill is inactive again then BB/JM have decided this is gameplan SOP, and Lewis-Burk-White (Bolden as the emergency back) are 'what's for dinner' in the running game (and Gill is now the frozen TV dinner only to be used when the fridge is a bit empty)?

I agree that Lee seems a likely "healthy scratch" candidate today. Brown and Rowe might also sit another week, since their subs appear to be performing adequately. That would make seven inactives if Bennett is out.

Slater might be active since they're now missing Marsh's ST potential contributions (even though Marsh's ST snaps had been minimized during his last three games active).

 

[Mack Herron]

 

[Soliel]

While true -- and believe me I wish we had Jules back -- what's that saying about necessity being the mother of invention? Currently Brady-Cooks is the most productive deep (20 yards in the air or more) pass tandem in the league. That may not have been established if Jules were playing.
Obviously this is bordering on the absurd for positive spin on the loss of Jules. But this deep route production is potentially mega-huge when added with Jules (assumingly next year). Add in productive TE(s), excellent backfield receivers (White, Lewis) -- hard to imagine how potent this offense could have been this year if Jules had returned (say beginning of December) right after the deep game was established/perfected. It would have meant any game the OL gave Brady protection would almost certainly result in the Patriots viciously carving up opponents from the air. Maybe not 07 potent but incredibly potent nonetheless.

This is a good point you make on developing a deep threat. I agree that the Brady to cooks situation is the top in the league. I’ve been thinking the pats win the Super Bowl without Jules. I’ll say this. It’s been interesting watching this team get it together.

 

[Galeb]

@dafoe2016 has finally made a positive contribution to this board. Anyone who wakes @Off The Grid from his posting slumber is worth keeping around, no matter how dark, angry and baseless their rantings are.

 

[Off The Grid]

@dafoe2016 has finally made a positive contribution to this board. Anyone who wakes @Off The Grid from his posting slumber is worth keeping around, no matter how dark, angry and baseless their rantings are.

LMAO. You are The Man, Brother Galeb!!

 

[Soliel]

I actually like angry and baseless rants.

 

[Off The Grid]

I actually like angry and baseless rants.

As do I. Hence my tendency to defenestrate their Authors.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

I might also note that the Flowers position is thin now too. :/

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Throwing this out there for anyone (like me) who was a little confused about the IR return process.

1) Once player has been put on IR, they can't even start practicing for at least 6 weeks.
2) Once 6 weeks has gone by, the team can choose to have a player start practicing.
3) To be able to start practicing, the team must use a "designated to return" slot on the player.
4) The team can wait as long as it wants to have the player start practicing. There's no "use or lose" deadline with respect to the start of practice.
5) However, once the player starts practicing, the team has 21 calendar days to either activate the player to the 53-man roster or decide to leave the player on IR. And as we know, if the team decides to leave the player on IR, the team does not get the "designated to return" slot back.
6) There's no minimum practicing time. A player could be reactivated immediately
6) However, a player must be on IR for at least 8 weeks. So if they were to start practicing once the 6 week clock expires, they can't be reactivated for 2 more weeks. But if they start practicing 8 or more weeks after being placed on IR they can be reactivated immediately